FREEPORT - The Lutheran boys basketball team handled business on both ends of the court Tuesday, beating Rockford Christian 87-36 in a semifinal game at the Class 3A Freeport Regional.

The Crusaders controlled a young Royals team from start to finish led by Joseph Kellen, who hit six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 18 points. Rockford Lutheran had a total of 12 three-point baskets made in the game.

"We have about 200 3-pointers made on the year," Lutheran coach Tom Guse said. "We don't want to rely on the 3 too much, but when they are open, we shoot them and tonight we shot them really well."

Good shooting helped the Crusaders, but Guse was quick to point out that his team's defense played a big part in win.

"We pride ourselves on defense first," said Guse, whose team won the Big Northern West Conference title. "We do feel like we want to get it into some type of track meet and see who can score more, but we do preach our defense. We want to be a well-rounded team because there will be some nights when don't shoot the ball as well and we want to be to be in games when we don't shoot the ball well."

Along with Kellen, the Crusaders (26-3) had five players in double figures. Kendall Lawson had 15 points, followed by Thomas Kopelman 12, James Robinson 11 and Nate Wieting 10.

Kopelman slammed home a dunk that made it 59-17 at halftime.

"We wanted to get out early and we took the open shots on extra passes," he said. "Our defense has stepped up over the past 10 games. We wanted to maintain our intensity through four quarters."

Rockford Christian coach Trent Emenecker said it was a tough day for his young team. Midway the third period, the Crusaders led by 50 points at 73-23.

"You picked your poison in how you wanted to guard them," he said. "Do you take away their inside game and hope that they don't score from the perimeter or vice versa? We tried both and neither worked."

The Royals (6-17) were led by sophomore Nicholas Kuchenreuther's 10 points. He is one of 13 underclassmen on the team's roster. The team had just two seniors in Chase Gould and Lucheo Tombini.

"It's a positive to have a guys coming back," Emenecker said. "We're looking forward to the summer when we can work on things."

The Crusaders advance to play Belvidere for the regional title at 7 p.m. Friday.

Belvidere 68, Freeport 61

Belvidere converted 25-of-38 free throws, including 11 in the fourth period to push back Freeport and advance to regional title game.

The Bucs led by as many 12 points late in the fourth, but saw that lead decrease to seven points at 60-53.

Page 2 of 2 - Colton Bahling led the Bucs with 17 points, followed by Maurice Jackson and Joe Byers, who each had 14.

The Bucs advance to play Lutheran at 7 p.m. Friday for regional title.

"We can't play that way against Lutheran. We have to come out different, hopefully better defensively," Byers said.

The Pretzels made 10 of 21 three-point field goals in the game, compared to 5 of 8 for Belvidere (21-9). Marcus Fitzpatrick made three of those 10 3-pointers for Freeport. His last one helped the Pretzels get to within four points at 21-16 in the second period. The Pretzels continue to peck away at the Bucs' lead and Quaveon Meeks' two made free throws in the final seconds put them within three points at 30-27 at halftime.

Belvidere coach Aaron Pearson went back to a 2-3 zone in the second half that made things difficult for the Pretzels, who had such momentum after being down just three points at half.

"Ultimately, it was changing up the defense," he said. "They really fought hard. We know anytime. Playing a conference team, three times a year, it's going to be physical; it's going to be ugly. Coming in on their home court to make it happen. We wanted to switch it up a little bit, make the extra pass and I think free throws in the second half helped us get the win tonight."